Two versions of the financial "Position of Fuck You."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eikbQPldhPY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJjKP8vYjpQ
For me, the 1990s were a decade adrift on the employment high seas.
The recession of the early 1990s, followed by the downsizing of the military made the the first third real rough.
The middle years were great. Steady work fixed my finances for a while and I paid off my student loan checks with one per diem payment.
The last couple were hell. Being underemployed triggered my ex-wife's hypergamy and ended my marriage.
But, like 1941 did for a lot of Great Depression era men, in 2001, a war came a long and fixed everything. Suddenly, my particular set of skills were in great demand.
I bought a modest house. Paid it off in less than 5 years. Got something twice as good/expensive, right after the housing bubble burst in 2008. Picked up a less-than-one-year-old house for $310k, when it sold a few months earlier for $368k.
Rented the first house. Used those payments to pay for the second house.
Drove an indestructible Japanese car (made in the UK!) for 14 years. Still have an indestructible Korean compact car made in 1993, and it is still a good little 3-season commuter that has lasted me for the last 18 years.
A paid-off house gives you peace of mind. That is part of your
"fortress of solitude."
Like stocks, there are only two days that you should care about the price of your house.
The day you buy it and the day you sell it.
It is a store of value. If your government decides to inflate and debase your currency, that just raises the value of your home.
Pay it off, get that monkey off your back, and then start investing with the money you used to devote to the mortgage.
The allies took out Italy, then Germany, then Japan. In that order, but not all at the same time. Why, because that was the order of difficulty.
Now, about an emergency fund.
I believe in having one. However, does it have to be a couple of months' salary in a bank account earning next-to-nothing in interest?
No.
Could it be 2-3 credit cards that you rarely, if ever use, in an envelope marked "for emergency use only," that you keep in the back of a drawer, and have have taped up in strapping tape so if you ever did try to get into the envelope it would remind you that it really needs to be an emergency?
yes.
Could you, if you lost your job and had to go 2, 3, 4 months without a new job, get by with unemployment insurance, a pantry of canned and preserved foods, no mortgage payment, no car payment, and judicious use of cash advances on those emergency credit cards?